July 23, 2009. A sunny day in New York despite storm clouds occasionally passing through. And hot. New York hot. But not really.
I went down to Michael’s to lunch with JH. Michael, the old epicurean himself was overseeing this media madhouse, my my; having just returned from his annual European Summer jaunt ending up in Capri.
The place was packed with boldfaced ones, such as: Barbara Walters with Diana Taylor; Katie Couric with Deborah Roberts et al; Somers Farkas, Saundra Whitney, Ann Eisenhower, Sherrie Rollins; Jeff Greenfield, Jerry Della Femina, Dr. Gerry Imber, Andy Bergman, Michael Kramer across the way. Around the room: Michael Gross, Jonathan Waald (who used to produce the Today Show) with Tyler Matheson, Fern Mallis and Elyse Kroll; Tina Brown, Catherine Saxton and Donna Solloway; Tina Flaherty, Jim Sitrick, Stan and Sydney Shuman entertaining another couple; Dick Parsons with Jerry Inzerillo of the Sol Kerzner organization; Leonard Lauder with Bob Hurst. Still moving, elsewhere -- Linda Wells and Keith Kelly, Jim Abernathy and Lisa Birnbach, Andy Bergman, Jeanine Pirro with Adam Schiff, Chuck Pfeifer, Muareen Reidy, Cindy Weber Cleary and Hal Rubenstein, Cynthia McFadden, and quite a few more, just like ‘em.
Do they discuss business? Of course, they discuss business; it’s in the water. And do they dish? Wouldn’t you? And do they laugh? Millington the GM and Michael, the old epicurean do, and you’re compelled (by your sense of humor) to join in, otherwise why would you be there?
At the table across from us Bobby Zarem was lunching with Barbara Broccoli. Ms. Broccoli is the daughter and heiress of Cubby Broccoli, the man who brought James Bond to the screen (and made a very large fortune as a result). She’s a Beverly Hills girl, and verty un-heiress-y. I read somewhere awhile back that she courted a young chef and showered him with things like Picassos and Aston Martins. He couldn’t take it and finally got himself a proper job. He was amazed by her extravagant gifts. I’m not. She’s the daughter of a tycoon. She learned on the man’s knee, you can see that. That’s what I mean by unheiress-y.
Barbara has taken up the co-production role with James Bond, but now she is coming to Broadway, producing Keith Huff’s play, “A Steady Rain” slated to open on Broadway on September 29th and starring Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig. I asked her how she pulled off getting those two guys to commit to something when they could be pulling down millions in the same amount of time making a film. She just shook her head and said, “They’re the greatest guys.”
The two mega-stars are making a limited appearance at the Gerald Schoenfeld (12 weeks only) and they had a $3 million advance when the box office opened on July 11. So it’s now or never for us. If you’re interested, Try this [1] and get your seats now. Jackman we already know, doesn’t disappoint his (vast) audience, and Mr. Craig is in many minds the heartthrob of heartthrobs these days. Whatever, it’ll be interesting chemistry to watch.
Last night. Beth DeWoody had a reception at her Gracie Square apartment for the Directors Council Group of Creative Time with guest of honor painter Ross Bleckner.
Earlier this year Ross went on an official mission to the Gulu district of northern Uganda. Gulu has been terrorized for many years by the rebel force known as The Lord’s Resistance Army which abducted and conscripted thousands of children -- boys and girls -- forcing them to become killers and sex slaves. For those of you who can’t relate, welcome to the world. Ross Bleckner is going to help you so you can help others.
With paint, brushes and paper, all shipped from New York Central Art Supply in the East Village, he worked for more than a week with a group of former abductees and ex-soldiers at a Roman Catholic aid center. They made more than two hundred paintings that were sold at a fundraising benefit at the United Nations headquarters last May (and featured on the NYSD). It was then that he was appointed Goodwill Ambassador.
According to the New York Times, when the United Nations officials first approached Ross, they wanted to know if he thought art could perform a useful role in drawing attention to human trafficking, which is a worldwide plague on our society.
He responded: “… I said to them that if art can’t perform a role like that, then it has no role at all.”
We cannot imagine the trauma experienced by the former abductees, many of whom were orphans, ranging from 11 to 19. Some were forced to kill or maim other children or adults before they escaped from, or were released by, the rebel movement. Ross said that after several days of teaching rudimentary skills of painting and drawing, many began to open up and create work that expressed their experiences.
(Mr. Bleckner said one haunting portrait made as part of the project is thought to be that of a henchman of Joseph Kony, the infamous commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army. Mr. Kony is wanted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court whose Trust Fund for Victims helped identify the children who participated in the painting project.)
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